The moon was huge tonight! Gorgeous! The sky was cloudless, clear. I could not resist walking Iten's Acres in the dark. One precaution must be taken. I must recruit Bonnie and/or Gus to join me. Their presence will protect me from strange encounters with the beasts of the field. And their presence will keep me from unexpected encounters with the two of them. Many a time as I walked at night on the Acres, awestruck, gaping at the stars, a furry body suddenly brushing up against me in the dark has shortened my lifespan. If I take at least one of them with me at the outset of the journey, fewer surprises interrupt my walking and only the night sky takes my breath away.
Tonight was a marvelous stroll. I started at the front of my property after I had deposited tomorrow's trash pick-up. Without moving, I go from the mundane of the ordinary chore to the magnificence of time alone. On a night like tonight the water in the swamp across the road is like another sky. As the light breeze passes over the pool, it reflects a shimmering expanse of stars intersected by a yellow brick road of moonlight. The trees at the far end of the field seem shadowy, eerie, yet beautiful. I imagine a herd of deer watching me, not sure if I'm substance or shadow. When I move, they know. But I would be too distant to cause them to fear. They often feed over there in the twilight. Calm in the open because of the nearest of the trees. At the first sign of danger, they would disappear into the woods with that majestic spring in their leap.
Gus joins me here. I see him coming from the Christmas lights on my neighbor's home. They do not mar the darkness. His house looks quite elegant. All the lights are white--like the stars in the sky, only near. I listen for the angels' song. I love the simplicity of the decoration. As I walk the front of the Acres pause must be taken at times to pet my friend who ricochets from place to place enamored not by the loveliness of the starry sky but by whatever movement or scent arouses his curiosity. The sky is a black cloth, glittering with a million diamonds. Even this late, Venus claims her superiority to the starry host.
The ancient maple and the Old Sentinel are majestic even in the dark. Their outline, their shape solidifies as the eyes adjust. In the winter there are no leaves to hide the stars. The pond imitates the swamp in its mirroring of the sky. A plane blinks its way across the first heaven. I wonder where it's headed. Do the people at the window sense that they are being watched, that a lone figure in the night is questioning the direction of their lives--a lone figure who may as well be as far away from them as the stars they see above them? The bench and lamp post by the pond and the shape of my house look as if they belong in some Shadowland fantasy.
The wafer moon seems to shrink as the night ages, turning from yellow to white. It moves almost imperceptibly across the sky. I slip through the trees behind the house and walk out into the meadow and over to the top of the hill. I could stand here forever. Gus is puzzled by the lack of movement, succumbs to his energy, and scampers off into the wild area. The stars appear to be even more numerous out here; there's more sky to see. Windows in the distant indicate the homes of my country neighbors, warm, and full of life. The occupants are unaware of the brilliance of the night that encloses their man-made caves. Immersed in loveliness, yet they sit unaware of the glory all around them, untouched by the Creator's handiwork.
I sit awhile in the chair at the top of the hill, trying to grow as silent as the darkness. A little chilled, but unable to let go of the sight of a universe of stars. So vast! So incalculable in number! "The heavens declare the glory of God." They speak of His divine power and infinite qualities. He who spoke them into existence in a moment of the time that He created knows them all by name. And miracle of miracles, here I sit in a near infinite universe, a lump of clay filled with the breath of life, gazing at His majesty, and He knows me by name. Me! He eyes are on me, His Al, basking in the beauty of the night, in the beauty of the darkness illuminated by pinpoints of blazing fire.
A cold nose on my hand breaks my reverie. Gus is anxious for attention and activity. I oblige. As I turn to head for home, the lights in the windows of my house beckon me. Somewhat reluctantly, I follow the beacon out of the darkness, through the paths in the trees, home.
I have loved my time being in the dark.
No comments:
Post a Comment